Tire Size

[Lucky]

My 1996 CE Vert has 285/40/17's on the rear. Can I replace them with 275/40/17's? What's the difference? Will it cause any problems? Thanks in advance.......Lucky

 

[trrgod]

I don't think there is anything to be concerned about. Some late model Vettes came with 275's on all corners. My 89 had 275's all aroung. Also, you can go on line to tirerack.com and confirm this.

 

[Tuna]

There isn't much difference between the 275 and 285 tire. Check out the specs section of www.tirerack.com and you'll see what I mean. So, mount the 275's if you want and don't worry.

In fact the Z07 and Z51 cars had 275s all around on the 9.5 wheels from 93-96 anyway.

In the 12 years I've had my 92, I've had 275's all the way around and 285's all around - no big deal.

 

[Rabbit]

Go for 275's, this way you can rotate em'.

I have em on my Z07 & was told you can't rotate because of the LPTWS. This is not the case.

 

[RubyDropTop]

The "difference" between the 2 sizes that you asked about is literally 10mm. That's it. The first number in the tire size (275/285) is always the width of the tread in mm. The second number (40, in this case) is the percentage of the tread. For example, the number 40 in this case means that the height of the sidewall is 40% of the tread. Your final number is the rim size (17").

You will have no issues with putting 275's on the back.

 

[Tuna]

It would be nice if 275 and 285 actually meant that so that the difference was really 10mm all the time but it just aint' so. The first number here is supposed to represent 'section width' (not tread width). So, converting 275 to inches yeilds 10.82" and 285 converts to 11.22".

Each tire is slightly different and these size designations are more approximate than actual. For example, I pulled the "specs" for several tires off the TireRack website for comparison

- section width - tread width - diameter
GY HP - 275 - 10.9 - 9.7 - 25.6
- 285 - 11.4 - 9.9 - 25.9

GY F1 GS - 275 - 10.9 - 9.7 - 25.6

GY F1 D3 - 275 - 10.8 - 8.9 - 25.7
- 285 - 11.3 - 9.2 - 26.1

Pilot Sport - 275 - 11.0 - N/A - 25.7
- 285 - 11.5 - N/A - 26.0

FS SZ50 - 275 - 10.9 - 8.6 - 25.7
- 285 - 11.4 - 9.2 - 26.0

You can see that the 275's have sections widths around 10.9" and the 285's are all closer to 11.3-4". Note that tread width is considerably different between companies for the same size tire!!! (Michelin does even provide this number!)

Basically, the 275 is a little smaller than the 285. Depending on which tires you buy to replace your existing tire, the relative size can be somewhat different.

As for rotating, remember if you have the 8.5 front wheels, you should -NOT- be rotating them to the rear of the car.

And if you have LTPWS, rotating the wheels will move the pressures sensors around the car and complicate any trouble shooting when there is a sensor failure. The C4 system is lets you know that there is a problem with low tire or a sensor. Pulling the codes will tell you which sensor but if that sensor is no longer on the location described (left front, say), the dealer will have to break down each wheel until if finds the offending sensor and replace it. This could mean creating problems for other sensors. This is why rotating tires with LTPWS installed is not recommended.

 

[RedRagTop]

I have 285's on the rear and 275's on the front. I like the subtle stance you get by having a marginally wider tire on the rear myself.

 

[Rabbit]

In my case the wheels are labeled for sensors. If the sensors are installed in the factory position, (proper colored sensor) front to rear shud be easy to remember.

 

[Tuna]

In my experience, the sticker didn't stay on the wheels very long and tire changes don't pay any attention to them anyway.

Glad to here that your stickers are still there.

 

[WhalePirot]

315-35x17s, all corners

is what I have been running for years on my lowered Z-51.